Bissau (Agenzia Fides) - The rate of the spread of cholera decreases in Guinea and Sierra Leone, whereas Guinea-Bissau in past days 1,500 cases and 9 deaths have been reported. Simão Mendes National Hospital, in the capital Bissau, in the past few weeks assisted 500 patients, but doctors say the peak of the epidemic has not yet been reached. The poor and almost non-existent health facilities, as well as hydrological, make the country fertile ground for the pandemic. Some experts believe that the strain was probably transmitted by fishermen in Sierra Leone and Guinea, although it has not yet been confirmed. According to the local Ministry of Health, the epidemic is spreading in 7 of the 9 administrative areas of Guinea Bissau. Water systems have been catastrophic, however, since 2009 onwards, prevention at a household level has greatly improved. In the African country there was a plague that affected 14,222 people and killed 225 in 2008. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 14/11/2012)